THE GOLD AND SILVER VESSELS AND OTHER PRECIOUS FINDS FROM THE THOLOS TOMB AT KOKLA IN THE ARGOLID

2018 ◽  
Vol 113 ◽  
pp. 119-142
Author(s):  
K. Demakopoulou ◽  
S. Aulsebrook
Keyword(s):  
Human Remains ◽  
Rare Phenomenon ◽  
Gold Silver ◽  
Social Landscape ◽  
Ritual Activity ◽  
Funerary Ritual ◽  
Metal Vessels ◽  
Grave Goods

The Late Helladic IIB–IIIA1 tholos in the Kokla necropolis is a particularly important and intriguing tomb that can provide us with interesting insights into the wider social landscape of the Argolid just prior to the emergence of the Mycenaean palaces. Architecturally, the tomb itself is a unique mix of features derived from tholoi and chamber tombs; its entrance is adorned with what must be one of the earliest-surviving Mycenaean frescoes. This tholos tomb had not been looted, a rare phenomenon for such tombs, and the precious finds, that is to say the gold, silver and ivory objects, are presented here in detail. These artworks include both Minoan and Mycenaean influences. The group of metal vessels is significant as it is one of the largest assemblages of metalware found from the post-Shaft Grave period on the Mycenaean Greek mainland. It appears that some of these objects were used for funerary ritual activity in conjunction with the bench in the tholos, whereas other objects seem to have been part of an assemblage of grave-goods. As no human remains were discovered, it is difficult to piece together the sequence of use for the tomb. Nevertheless, the publication of this material from the Kokla tholos is an important contribution to our knowledge of the Argolid during this period.

Brass, Gold and Silver from Mamluk Egypt: Metal Vessels Made for Sultan Al-Nāṣir Muḥammad

2004 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-73
Author(s):  
Rachel Ward
Keyword(s):  
Art History ◽  
Gold Silver ◽  
Metal Vessels

This paper is named and given in memory of Mark Zebrowski, friend and respected colleague, who contributed much to life, art history and the culture of India, including his pioneering Gold, silver and bronze from Mughal India. I will focus on the brass vessels inlaid with silver and gold which were produced for one Mamluk sultan, al-Nāṣir Muhammad (1293–4, 1299–1309, 1310–41), whose name and titles are inscribed on more than forty-six objects (see Appendix).

Rethinking Delaware Archaeology: A Beginning

2003 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles C. Clark ◽  
Jay F. Custer
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
Human Remains ◽  
Linguistic Analysis ◽  
Symbolic Meaning ◽  
Careful Study ◽  
Indian People ◽  
Indian Tribe ◽  
New Interpretation ◽  
Grave Goods

A pit feature containing human remains was originally interpreted as a trash pit based on its shape, the presence of ceramic sherds, flakes, and fire-cracked rocks, and the absence of items traditionally viewed as “grave goods.” However, a cooperative reconsideration of the feature, incorporating the insights of a representative of the Nanticoke Indian Tribe, developed a new interpretation. Ethnohistoric data clearly indicate that local Indian people would not be likely to bury a body in a trash pit. Therefore, the presence of human remains signified a burial and artifacts usually viewed as “trash” could still have symbolic and ritual significance. Upon careful study, many of the feature's artifacts showed attributes which seem to distinguish them from superficially similar items found in non-grave settings. Data gathered from ethnohistoric sources, ethnographies, and linguistic analysis fit together to create a consistent cultural context for the artifacts' ritual and symbolic meaning.

A Perspective on Ethics and the Reburial Controversy

1993 ◽  
Vol 58 (2) ◽  
pp. 348-354 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony L. Klesert ◽  
Shirley Powell
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Cultural Heritage ◽  
Academic Freedom ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Professional Ethic ◽  
Human Remains ◽  
Indigenous Groups ◽  
Right Of Access ◽  
Proper Context ◽  
Grave Goods

It is our opinion that archaeologists have no inherent right of access to human remains, grave goods, or objects of cultural heritage; that respecting diverse cultural views does not amount to an abdication of academic freedom; that historically archaeologists have been unanthropological in their approach to living populations and inconsistent in their treatment of indigenous peoples; and that archaeologists are fighting a losing battle when they ignore public opinion and clash with indigenous groups in the name of science. We offer some guidelines that we feel will alleviate much of the current tensions between archaeologists and indigenous peoples. A professional ethic must be devised that is consciously anthropological, values the rights of those studied and their cultural descendants in their own terms, and places academic pursuits in their proper context.

Dogs of War: Potential Social Institutions of Conflict, Healing, and Death in a Fort Ancient Village

2012 ◽  
Vol 77 (3) ◽  
pp. 498-523 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert A. Cook
Keyword(s):  
Population Growth ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Ohio Valley ◽  
Fort Ancient ◽  
Social Landscape ◽  
Ancient Site ◽  
Ritual Activity

AbstractInterpreting ritual activity at ancient sites, such as Sun Watch Village in the Middle Ohio Valley, can be difficult without clear and specific historical connections to later groups. This Fort Ancient site yielded evidence of ritual use of dogs and wolves that resemble those documented for several Central Algonquian and Siouan/Plains tribes. Although these ethnographic groups have not been conclusively linked as direct descendants of Middle Ohio valley populations, this information can be used as multiple specific analogies for understanding such “culturally unaffiliated” cases. At Sun Watch Village, local customs of dog and wolf ritualism became established at a time of increasing warfare and the appearance of Mississippians in the Fort Ancient region. Mississippians may have contributed to developing authority positions in individual villages that were coping with local population growth and in-migration of peoples within an increasingly hostile social landscape.

The Breaking of Ochred Pebble Tools as Part of Funerary Ritual in the Arene Candide Epigravettian Cemetery

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 331-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudine Gravel-Miguel ◽  
Julien Riel-Salvatore ◽  
Roberto Maggi ◽  
Gabriele Martino ◽  
C. Michael Barton
Keyword(s):  
Microscopic Observation ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Morphological Similarity ◽  
Specific Shape ◽  
Funerary Ritual ◽  
Grave Goods

We present the analysis of 29 human-transported limestone pebbles found during recent excavations (2009–11) in the Final Epigravettian levels at the Caverna delle Arene Candide, Italy. All pebbles are oblong, most bear traces of red ochre and many appear intentionally broken. Macroscopic analyses demonstrate morphological similarity with pebbles used as grave goods in the Final Epigravettian necropolis excavated at the site in the 1940s. Mediterranean beaches are the most plausible source for the pebbles, which were carefully selected for their specific shape. Microscopic observation of the pebbles’ surfaces shows traces of ochre located on the edges and/or centres of most pebbles. A breakage experiment suggests that many pebbles were broken with intentional, direct blows to their centre. We propose that these pebbles were used to apply ochre ritually to the individuals buried at the site, and that some were subsequently ritually ‘killed’. This study emphasizes the importance of studying artefacts that are often ignored due to their similarities to simple broken rocks. It also provides a method to study pebbles as a distinct artefact category, and shows that even broken parts should be studied to understand the story told by such objects in the context of prehistoric human social systems.

Ritual sites, offerings, and sacrifice

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Armit
Keyword(s):  
Iron Age ◽  
Human Body ◽  
Human Remains ◽  
Religious Practice ◽  
Body Parts ◽  
Domestic Life ◽  
Individual Household ◽  
Ritual Activity ◽  
La Tene ◽  
The Individual

This chapter examines the disparate scales of ritual deposition in Iron Age Europe, from the individual/household to the wider region. It explores commonalities underlying different practices, including the pervasive interest in human remains, the deployment of ritualized violence, the formalization of religious practice, and the roles of natural, domestic, and monumental spaces. The Iron Age is notable for the ritualization of domestic life, with certain objects, including human body parts, deposited in houses. Watery places provided another focus; bodies showing heavily ritualized treatments have been found in bogs from Scandinavia to Ireland. From the middle La Tène period, more formal cult centres appear, some as foci for deposition on an enormous scale. Elsewhere, as in Ireland, ritual activity focused on ‘ancestral’ landscapes. Motivations behind acts of deposition are difficult to ascertain, but the material residues suggest a widespread concern with sacrifice as a means of securing benefits for the community.

Excavation of Liu Shen’s tomb of the Western Han Dynasty on Heitou Hill in Xuzhou, Jiangsu

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xuzhou Museum
Keyword(s):  
Human Remains ◽  
Han Dynasty ◽  
Rammed Earth ◽  
Royal Family ◽  
Western Han Dynasty ◽  
Xuzhou City ◽  
Earth Fill ◽  
Grave Goods

AbstractIn June through August 2006, Xuzhou Museum excavated the M1 at the Heitou Hill in the eastern suburb of Xuzhou City. This tomb was a vertical stone shaft pit tomb of the early Western Han Dynasty; it had an earthen mound above the grave and attendant burials were found around it. In the rammed earth fill of the grave, five layers of sealing stones were found; the burial furniture was wooden coffin, in which two human remains were found, showing that this tomb was a couple joint burial. From this tomb, large amount of exquisite grave goods were unearthed, including potteries, bronzes, jades and agate objects, iron objects, bone and wooden objects, etc. The eight seals among the grave goods were the official and private seals of the tomb occupants, from the text of which we know that the name of the male occupant of the tomb is Liu Shen, and estimate him as a member of the royal family of the Chu Feudatory Kingdom of the Western Han Dynasty.

scholarly journals The Late Upper Palaeolithic and earliest Mesolithic evidence of burials in Europe

2018 ◽  
Vol 373 (1754) ◽  
pp. 20170264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jörg Orschiedt
Keyword(s):  
Human Remains ◽  
Before Present ◽  
Theme Issue ◽  
Burial Practices ◽  
Cut Marks ◽  
Rare Phenomenon ◽  
Short Time Span ◽  
Late Upper Palaeolithic ◽  
Short Time ◽  
Mesolithic Burials

Burials of the Late Palaeolithic (14 000–11 600 cal years before present, henceforth BP) are a rare phenomenon in Europe. Several sites possess burials of single and double individuals. As with the preceding Magdalenian, the burial of more than two individuals in the same grave cutting seems to be unusual, but does occur occasionally. The deposition of isolated and disarticulated human remains with or without cut marks seems additionally to belong to the Magdalenian context. In the final Palaeolithic phase (13 000–11 600 cal years BP) there is evidence for cemetery-like clusters of burials, which contrast to the Magdalenian evidence, instead showing some similarities with the succeeding Mesolithic. The earliest Mesolithic burials 11 600–10 500 cal BP) are a very rare phenomenon, covering a short time span between the beginning of the Preboreal and the beginning of the Boreal phase of the early Holocene. Here the evidence includes single inhumations, cemetery-like structures and a number of isolated human remains. Caves and rock shelters were the most common places for inhumations in both the final Palaeolithic and the early Mesolithic. Although the number of sites with a chronological continuity from the LUP to the Early Mesolithic burial is low, several aspects indicate a general continuity in burial patterns over this period. Apart from this continuity, the Mesolithic burials in general seem to represent a new level of diversity in burial practices. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Evolutionary thanatology: impacts of the dead on the living in humans and other animals’.

Graves and grave-goods

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis Harding
Keyword(s):  
Final Stage ◽  
Western Society ◽  
Random Pattern ◽  
Implicit Assumption ◽  
The Dead ◽  
Funerary Ritual ◽  
Small Clusters ◽  
Burial Grounds ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Grave Goods

It has been stressed that the archaeological remains of the dead in a formal grave represent only the final stage in what may well have been a protracted and complex series of stages in funerary ritual. From this final stage, however, the archaeologist is potentially able to make an informed assessment of several aspects of the prevailing funerary practice, notably: • the context of burial, whether individual, grouped, or collective; • its structure, whether simple pit, with or without coffin, cist, or more elaborate tomb with the provision of additional space for accompaniments; • the placement of the remains, whole or part, cremation or inhumation, in the latter case including factors such as orientation and posture; • the presence or absence of grave-goods, their intrinsic character, and their choreography within the burial area; • any adjacent features, such as remains of pyres or related structures that might reflect pre-depositional stages in funerary ritual; • any secondary episodes of activity, such as subsequent burials or ‘grave robbing’. There is an implicit assumption that cemeteries should be relatively compact groups of graves, with or without a defining enclosure boundary. In the case of a larger cemetery, it might even be possible from grave associations to determine that it expanded over time in one particular direction, as in the case of Wetwang Slack or in the classic instance at Münsingen. Some graves in larger cemeteries were collectively ordered in regular ranks, as at Rudston or Harlyn Bay, implying an informed rather than random pattern of expansion. Smaller burial grounds, however, perhaps used over a shorter period of time, may be dispersed, or in small clusters over a wider area, as at Adanac Park, Cockey Down, Melton, or Little Woodbury, making their recognition more difficult in the absence of widespread stripping. This pattern could arise if a family group, for example, was segregated from the next allowing for infilling over time, which may not have happened if the settlement served by the cemetery for some reason was abandoned. In present-day western society a grave is simply a place of burial, designed for the disposal and commemoration of the dead.

scholarly journals Święte 20: Graves of the Corded Ware Culture

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 140-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Dobrakowska ◽  
Piotr Włodarczak
Keyword(s):  
Human Remains ◽  
The Absolute ◽  
Archaeological Excavations ◽  
Grave Goods

Abstract Archaeological excavations at site 20, Święte, Radymno Commune, Jarosław District, were prompted by construction of the A4 motorway. Among the results the site has yielded there are two Corded Ware graves. Both of them are niche constructions datable to the younger Corded Ware phase in Małopolska. Accommodating three interments, grave 43 is particularly interesting for the re-use of its burial chamber and re-deposition of disarticulated older human remains. Grave goods within the graves are typical of the younger Corded Ware phase, with parallels found at closely located sites of the Lower San Valley and Rzeszów Foothills. The absolute date range for both graves has been determined to be ca. 2550-2400 BC.

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